Shelf, especially for refrigerators



Sept. V19, 1939.

R. L. HALLOCK SHELF. ESPECIALLY FOR REFRIGERATORS .Filed April 29, 1957Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY.

Sept. 19, 1939. R. HALLocK SHELF. ESPECIALLY FOR REFRIGERATORS 4sheets-sheet 2 `Filed April 29, 1957 2. ATTORNEY.

Sept. 19, 1939. R HALLOCK 2,173,108

SHELF, ESPECIALLY FOR REFRIGERA'II'OBS INVENTOR,

/A ATTORNEY.

Sept. 19, 1939. R L, HALLOCK 2,173,108

SHELF. ESPECIALLY FOR REFRIGERATORS `Filed April 29, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet4 Z/Ltg). Il.

ff.; ATTORNEY.

manita sepa 19, 1939 UNITED STATES anales snaar, ESPECIALLY Fonnarnmnna'rons 'Imbert uy moet, nimmt. N. y.

Application April 29, 1937, Serial No. 139,067

' 1c claims. (ci. 2li-15s) My invention relates to shelves, moreparticularly for use in refrigerators. My object is to provide a simpleconstruction of adjustable shelf which may also be slidable and whichdoes not require taking material oiithe shelf toadiust it. VnorAmanipulation ofv screws nor twisting the shelf, nor other contortionscharacteristic of adjustable shelves on the market. Further objects willappear.

In the accompanying drawings: I

Fig.,1 is a front view of a refrigerator showing shelves in accordancewith the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

' 15 Fig. 3 is an upside-downyview of a shelf in accordance with myinvention and is taken -on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front view of a shelf in accordance with the invention andis taken on the line ll 0f Fig.- 3;

Fig. 5 is'a vertical cross-sectional view of aA shelf in accordance withthe invention taken on.4

line 5 5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is like Fig. 2 but shows the shelf'pulledout: I

Fig. 14 is a view like Fig. 12 showingthe shelf raised. Therefrigeratorl has an interior food space 9 bounded by a liner 1 in which laredisposed 40 shelves i0.- The number of shelves embodying the inventionis, of course. optional. Each shelf includes a member Il (the shell?proper, which we may referto as theslab) on which 'one may put things.Slab ii is aunit whichy is complete per se and removable :from the space9. unit is made up, for example, of a rectangular frame i2 acrosswhich-'are bars I2. .Ifthe shelf is a sliding'shelf, a rail Il may' beprovided above the resting surface and. the

bars i3 may be continued at the back to the'rail 14. The slab may be asolid plate or a perforated plate or made up in a variety of manners.

which may be secured to the liner in known man- 4.'35 ner as by bolts orscrews 4passing flanges Below the slab ii are supportingbrackets *II onthe brackets. There are four brackets in the embodiment shown and theyare in one plane. They are apertured to receive 'parts I6 which servefor supporting, lifting and sliding the slab of the shelf. In order thatthe parts Ii may be 5 removable for cleaning. the apertures may be madeby slotting the brackets and holding parts ii in with removable pins i1which may, for example, be tapered or shouldered to hold them in place.If the shelf is to be a sliding shelf, brackl0 ets Ii are disposed onlyat the front and intermediately of the shelf in the embodiment shown.

Members i6 may be made of rod'bent to suitable shape. They includestraight-portions I8 of a length exceeding the distance between brackets,l5 l5 in accordance with the amount it is desired that the shelf shouldslide. They pass loosely through the horizontal apertures lin bracketsi5 and have right angle bends to provide radius arms i9. The distancebetween the radius arms i9 of 20 the same 'part I6 isless than the widthof the shelf slab. At the ends of the radius arms i9, the

rods i6 are bent at right angles to provide ledge parts 2| which passunder, and o n which rest the' longitudinal edges or framev parts of the.shelf 25 v slab Il. At the outsideends of theledge parts,

rods i6 are bent again at right angles to form varms 22 and-at the endsof the front arms, they are bent again to form abutments 23 which bearagainst Vthe top edge of the'shelf slab. Front 30 arms 22 mightbe'termed bail arms. They space the abutment points of parts 2i and 23with the shelf slab. The parts hold the shelf slab in lowered positionby a sort of wrench or torsion grip. Projections or stops 25 may beprovidedon the 35 .lower side of the front and back edges of the shelftransversely of the refrigerator. 'Ibis prevents the shelf slab fromcoclring and assures proper position for lifting. Bail arms 22 serve ashandles which may be simultaneously lifted by 40 `hand to raise theshelf.

The axes forbent rods it aredisposed farther from the liner thanthe endsof the shelf slab,

and thevparts are so constructed and arranged that on lifting arms 22 tothe position shownin 45 Fig. 7. the ledge parts 2i pass through thevertical planes in which arethe axes of parts I6. Thus,

in raised position, the downward pressure ofthe shelf slab and whateveris on it tends to push ledge parts 2l outwards toward the liner. This ispre- 5o vented by either contact of the upper end of arms 22 with theliner or contact of ledge parts 2i with stops 28 and guide rail il ontheshelf slab. The

rear arms 22 may, in raised position, contact vertical supports' 2l forthe rail Il while the forward 55 arms contact forward vertical parts ofthe rail. It is to be understood, however, that stops 28 and rear arms22 may be omitted and forward arms 22 arranged so as not to contact railI4. 4It will be understood also that rail i4 may be omitted.

In Figs. 9 and 10, brackets 30 are provided 'whioh differ from bracketsI5 in that they have upwardly extending pieces 3| which control theraised position of the shelf with respect to sideways movement. In thiscase only stops 28 need be provided to x the upper position of membersi6. q

The shelf maybe slid in and out between the positions shown in Fig. 2and Fig. 6 while theu shelf is in the same lower position. To raise theshelf, one lifts the arms 22. 'I'hese swing about the horizontal axes ofthe bracket apertures. The under edges of the shelf slab slide on theledge parts 2|. The shelf slab is lifted and passes beyond deadvcenterto lock the parts in raised position. In the raised position the shelfmay be slid forward and backward, as in lowered position. It will beobvious that the elevating feature may be provided without the slidingfeature.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 11-13, the f shelf slab is made up ofparts to take care of a bulge at 40 in the liner 4|. Only the part 42 ofthe shelf 43 extends transversely of the food space for the distancemarked A in Fig. 11. Part 42 includes front frame member 45 and reaframe member 46 connected by shelf bars 4 The rear frame member 4.6 isprovided with projecuons n (Fig. 12 which engage under bars u to holdthe back part of the shelf down whensit is pulled forward. Bars 48extend between and are connected to the rear part of a substantiallyrectangular frame 5U and a central bar 5I. Bars 48 also guide thesliding part 'of the shelf when it is slid.

At` the sides, beyond part 42 are shelf bars 52 which are in the samehorizontal plane as bars 44 but which are attached-to frame 50.- 'I-heshelf bars 44 may be extended up at the back and tied to a cross-piece53.

Brackets y54 are attached to the liner and are apertured to received theshelf elevators 55 which are similar to thosepreviously. described.These are bent to provide radius arms 55a and supporting portions 56. Atthe 1front are handles or bails and at the rear the elevators are bentup at 58 to provide stops for inward movement of part 42. In order thatthe sliding part 42 may be pulled forwardly, the handles 51 must bebelow part 42. For this purpose, the front part of frame is loopeddownwardly and outwardly at lg to form rests for the handles inv loweredposition. Filler 'pieces 6I may be provided to make up for the forwarddisplacement of the front bar of the slidable part of the shelf relativeto the front bar of the non-slidable part. -This filler piece holds thepart il back when partn 42 is pulled forward. 'Ihis is also in parteffected bythe construction ',fof the elevators which are bent justbeyond the" bracket supports.

In lowered position the shelf rests directly on the brackets 54. Onraising handles 5 1-, both parts of the shelf are raised and the radiusarms a are carried beyond vertical' position. In the raised position,the handles 51 rest against the liner. Filler pieces 62 are provided atthe ends Ioi' the barst!! so that, in raised position, when fpart42 ispulled forward. frame l0 will not move forwardly.L The shelfsubstantially fills the transverse distance from liner" wallto linerwall so `that lateral play of the shelf is preventad.

Fig.- 13 shows the shelf pulled forward. It will be understood from theforegoing that the shelf pulls forward in the raised.

Qbviously many variations may be made within the spirit' and scope ofthe invention.

What I claim is: A

1. A shelf organization including a shelf slab' and a support includingbrackets, members pivotally mounted in said'brackets on a horizontalaxis and longitudinally movable in said brackets, and extensions on saidmembers adapted t0 slidably engage said shelf slab.

2. In a refrigerator having a liner bounding a food space, a shelf slab,means for holding the slab in selective horizontal positions includingload transmitting meansl movable to eithr side of vertical, and meansfor limiting the movement of the slab by abutment ofthe loadtransmitting means with the shelf slab. u

3. A refrigerator shelf and mounting means therefor including a slab onwhich things may be placed, supporting structure, members pivoted insame manner when it is the supporting structure and adapted to raisesaid members being,movable through vertical planes'in shifting the slabbetween different ertical positions, and means' for providing ementlimiting contact on diiierentsides of said vertical planes respectivelyto provide different vertical positions of rest ofthe slab.

Q 4. `InaI horizontal shelf for a refrigerator, a member on which onewould put things, aplurality of parts each, engaging top and bottomsides 0fsaid member atspaced points of each part respectively, and meansfor rotatably supporting said parts 'at points thereof spaced from theaforesaid points.

5. In a refrigerator a liner bounding a food space, shelf supporting andmoving structure including parts fixed to saidJ liner, and. a shelf slabsubstantially coextensive with the horizontal cross-section of the foodspace adapted to be supported by said structure, said ructure includingmeans to move the shelf up and down within the food space while carryingfood and while the downward thrust of the food load is borne by saidsupporting structure, and means for sliding the slab horizontally out ofthe food l Space.

6. In a`v refrigerator having a liner bounding a food space, a shelfslab substantially coextensive with the horizontal cross-section of thefood space, brackets iixed to said liner and projecting into said foodfspace, and rod-like members on each side of said food space horizontallyand A turnably mounted in said-brackets, said members engaging said slabin sliding and food load transmitting relation, extensions on saidmembrs for turning said members to lift said slab, said memvbers havingmovement*v limiting abutment with said slab, and said slab, members andextensions being wholly contained within said food space.

7. In a refrigerator having a liner bounding a food space, supportingstructure fixed to said liner including brackets on each side of theliner, a shelf slab in said food space, load transmitting means betweenthe slab and the supporting structure including members turnably mountedin said brackets and having sliding engagement with said slab, said loadtransmitting means being .mitting means.

load, and means for restricting the slab to ver' tical movement withinthe coniines of the food space during such movement of the load trans-8. In a refrigerator having a liner bounding a food space, supportingstructure xed to said liner, a shelf slab in said food space, loadtransmitting means between the slab and the supporting structureAmovable to vary the distance between the slab and the supportingstructure while transmitting load and including partsengaging the shelfslab on opposite sides to limit the shelf movement in at least *onedirection, and means for restricting the slab to vertical movementwithin the confines of the food space during such movement of the loadtransmitting means.

9. In a refrigerator having a liner bounding a food space, a shelf slab,means for holding the slab in several horizontal positions includingload transmitting means movable to either side of vertical, means forlimiting the movement of the slab by abutment of the load transmittingmeans with the shelf slab, and means for moving the shelf slabhorizontally outwardly from the food space. v

10. A shelf including a slab, xed supporting meanls'whereby said movableparts and support-v ing members support the slab in each of itspositions and during raising and lowering movements, means to slide theslab horizontally in each of several positions of the slab, and saidsupporting members and movable parts supporting said slab during slidingmovement in each of said several positions.

ROBERT' LAY HALLOCK.

